The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) wants to increase the county’s sales tax for local transportation improvements. Every city council in the county is on board, except for Pismo Beach.
In a 3-2 vote, the Pismo Beach City Council voted against the proposed increase.
James Worthley, SLOCOG's Deputy Executive Director, says income from the tax would be used exclusively for transportation improvements across the county.
“What we hear is there's a transportation need everywhere," Worthley said. "People want roads fixed, they want improvements, they want safety improvements. They want things addressed more than what this money is going to provide, even. They all want to see their fair share or even more than their fair share, potentially, if they could get that.”
SLOCOG estimates the additional tax would bring in around $35 million a year to be distributed throughout the county. The amount each area gets would be based on population.
As the smallest city in the county, Pismo Beach would receive around $550,000 a year.
City Manager Jorge Garcia said Pismo Beach would be a "donor city," providing more for the county than it would get back.
“While the sales tax that's generated in the city is significantly higher because of the shopping, the expenses and the things that happen here, utilizing the population formula for the largest pool of money has a disadvantage for Pismo Beach,” Garcia said.
Worthley said this measure will help SLO County, a self-help county, like 25 other counties in the state. He said 89% of California's population is part of a self-help county.
“What they do is they take their taxes collected both from their locals and tourists that also pay that sales tax," Worthley said. "Then, they leverage those funds against state and federal grants, bringing back sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars back to their counties over the decade.”
He says SLOCOG has been trying to get a tax measure on the ballot for over 20 years. As of Tuesday, it is one step closer to making it to the November ballot after getting the green light from the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors.
Next, the measure goes back to SLOCOG's board for final approval in June.
Garcia said the city would feel more comfortable with a different formula in place.
“Because we have such a large tourism crowd here, our roads have more use on them," Garcia said. "We feel that some type of formula that could account for some of that would be beneficial.”
Another group separate from SLOCOG is also working to get a similar measure on the ballot.
